


Fleeing

by say_lene



Series: She Bleeds Chaos [2]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Breakup, F/M, his return scene just destroyed me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 17:19:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18428603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/say_lene/pseuds/say_lene
Summary: Andronikos finally finds her, but she's already moved on.





	Fleeing

"You and me, we're forever."

She smiles. It makes his blood sing, seeing her smile like that: all sudden and red-star radiant, like she's about to set a world on fire. She surges forward, his heart spikes up into his throat -

And she's kissing him. Andronikos holds on so tight she snarls into it, fingertips digging into his shoulders. He needs to loosen up - go gentle, go careful - because _hell_.

He thinks this is real.

"My precious pirate." Her lips brush against his. "How I've missed you."

He's been living with a ghost for half a decade: seeing her in every shadow, and hearing her on the hazy edge of sleep. He feels wobbly, like he's balancing on a pinhead. He holds her tighter.

"I'm here now. Told you I'd come back with a fleet, didn't I?"

She's still smiling into his skin. "Just not yours."

Abruptly, her smile fades. Her grip on his arms tightens. Then she steps away, and it's like she takes the oxygen with her.

"But things have changed."

"They have, have they?" He's not sure where he finds the ice to put in his voice, or how it comes to him so quickly - but who _wouldn't_ have worried? With a woman like her -

She hears it. Her fire flares in response, then settles cold - and that's when he knows it's over. Whatever else they are, they're never cold.

"Don't tell me," he growls. "There's someone else."

"You make me sound so thoughtless." That sardonic, chilly mantle's settled over her. She's never worn it with him before - only _around_ him, when he's at her side with a blaster, or watching her wade through sticky Sith politics. "It's been years _,_ my precious pirate. My face has been all over the HoloNet. You've been searching for so long, and you expect me to believe you didn't notice _that_?"

"HoloNet's hard to come by when you're dodging Eternal Fleet ships, Sith."

"You don't say." She raises an eyebrow. "I always wondered why Lana couldn't find you when it came time to rescue me. You aren't exactly the subtle type."

"What are you saying?"

Six _years_. Of chasing a ghost and fleeing her - of hoping without hoping, and wasting time he never had -

Her gaze drops to the floor. She takes a shaky breath.

When he dreams of her, she rarely speaks. She floats beyond his reach, sometimes laughing, sometimes screaming; her image shattering like painted glass when he tries to bridge the gap. She murders and perishes by turns, full of madness and beautiful rage.

Her gaze comes back to meet his. It's still there, that madness - and the fire, too, smouldering away like a star hoarding a nova. But he sees grief there as well, and something freshly bleeding like the edges of a wound.

"I'm saying I love you, Andronikos." She takes another fragile breath, and it's like she's shattering for real. "But the past is so long gone."


End file.
